Hikers Stumble upon ‘Devil Tree’, Capture Insane Footage

Two men trekking through the woods in Defiance, Ohio stumbled upon a pretty wild sight — a tree on fire from the inside.

One of them pulled out their phone and started filming (of course they’d need evidence!) Some people online are referring to the flaming tree as “The Devil Tree”.

The men (one of which falls two times in the span of the 30-second video) are stunned by what they see. The hollow tree is engulfed in red hot flames all throughout the inside of the trunk.

There are two theories as to how this happened. One is that the tree was struck by lightning and caught fire. You have to also take into account, though, that wildfires can start in the roots of trees and actually burn underground before spreading upward. Either way, it’s still a freak phenomenon.

Articles reporting on the video claim the men were two hikers, but a YouTube commenter who says she’s the daughter of one of the men filming, states that her dad actually just works near where this tree was found. She also sticks up for her dad, saying that it was not in any way fake or manmade.

Check out the wild footage for yourself! WARNING: This video contains strong language.